Pure yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) phosphor doped with Eu2+ has been successfully synthesized by a facile solgel method. The use of hydrogen iodide aimed to get Eu2+ ions, confirmed by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis. Nearly spherical and well dispersed particles were synthesized. The produced YAG:Eu2+ phosphor powder had a broad emission band in the range of 400600nm with a peak at 480nm, attributed to the allowed 4f(7)-4f(6)5d(1) transition of electrons in Eu2+ ions. The proposed method could also be expanded to prepare many other Eu2+-doped phosphors with a solution method.